Tandem Finita
by Hiding From Everyone
Summary: Tandem Finita: finally ended in Latin. Mark of Athena spoilers now! Read the HOO series before reading this or else be majorly shoking. Percy and Annabeth battle through Tartarus and are finally saved, until, after a few weeks, Percy breaks down. Annabeth soon follows, and the couple end up in mortal peril, hoping and praying to survive after Gaia's defeat. Sequel possible.


**Final Word Count: 2,018**

**Rating: T**

**Category: Percy Jackson**

**Chapter Count: One-shot**

**Pages in Word: 10**

**Possibility of Aftermath Sequel: Possible. Must have enough muse.**

**Spoilers: Mark of Athena, possible House of Hades**

**Writing Days: 2/14/13 to 2/16/13**

**Writing Time: Unknown, possibly three hours churning out the idea into reality, including thinking up the idea.**

**Title: ****T****andem ****F****inita****.**

**Tandem****F****inita****: In Latin, means "finally ended."**

* * *

_They_

_F_

_E_

_L_

_L_

_For what seems like FOOOREEEVEEER,_

* * *

Annabeth looks into Percy's eyes, even though she can barely see them. "How long have we been falling?" She asks.

Percy just looked miserable. "Too long, way too long."

* * *

_They HIT the ground with a_

_BOOM!_

_And everything, EVERYTHING, hurts._

_And then the_

_P-A-I-N,_

* * *

"Percy! Percy are you okay?" Annabeth shakes his shoulders trying to get him to open his eyes.  
He used her body to push himself under them so that he would take the brunt of the fall. "Seaweed Brain," She mumbles. "Open your eyes for me. Come on, just open your eyes…"

* * *

_He looks at her,_

_P-A-I-N_

_Filling his once vivacious eyes,_

_He stumbles, and she_

_W__RAP__S_

_Her arms around his shoulders,_

_Keeping him_

_U P_

_Right,_

* * *

"Come on Annabeth," He whispers in her ear, knowing that she can't hear him. "We can rest later, right now, we have to keep moving."

He moves to hold her bridal style before picking his run up again. The monsters got too close last time and swiped her left ear. He is pretty sure she passed out from shock and might go deaf in that ear, but he still loves her, and he won't let her go.

* * *

_He t__rips__ and they tumble._

_The MONSTERS catch up with them,_

_And start_

_T-a-u-n-t-i-n-g_

_Them for their inability to_

_escape,_

* * *

This time it's Annabeth who pulls Percy along. He can still hobble for the most part, but his leg is most definitely broken. He can feel the blood pour, and yet he still puts pressure on it through the pain, just to make sure that Annabeth doesn't have to guard both of their backs again.

Percy looks at her and sees the monster dust stuck on her clothes, the raggedness of her hair, and the dark circles under her eyes from who-knows-how-long without sleep.

* * *

_They finally get a_

_break_

_When they come across_ a

_Small_

_Cave. They barely fit._

_Somehow,_

_They KNOW that the monsters_

_Can't get in, no matter what,_

_Because this cave wasn't there_

_4_

_Minutes ago._

* * *

"How close to the doors are we, do you think," Annabeth asks one night in the cave.

"Maybe a couple days, but I don't know exactly, there's no sense of time down here."

"Well, we have to be close, there's been more and more monsters and the majority HAVE to be guarding the doors…"

* * *

_They are close._

_They have no clue how _

_Close_

_They really are._

* * *

They see the monsters after not-so-long.

They're crouching, looking around corners and flinch at every single noise and movement.

A drip of water falls from a stalagmite somewhere in the 'above,' landing by Percy's knee, caused the two to freeze.

After a second, they both turned back to the monster cesspool. "I think if we just charge in, the others should be here by now," Percy reasoned.

"It _does_ look like the monsters are all pushing towards the front, attempting to get at something…"

* * *

_They battled for hours._

_N_

_O_

_O_

_N_

_E_

_Would understand what had happened after._

_Even the seven, Nico, and Coach Hedge didn't understand,_

_EXCEPT_

_Annabeth and Percy_

* * *

Piles and piles of monster dust sat around the doors. No one knew how, but the doors were pushed closed by the monsters and their sheer idiocy.

When the dust settled, the demigods looked at each-other in awe.

Then Percy collapsed.

* * *

_She sat by him for_

_3_

_Days and_

_3_

_Nights._

_Chiron couldn't_

_P U L L_

_Her away even._

_Malcolm, her concerned older brother couldn't do it._

_So for_

_3_

_Days and_

_3_

_Nights, she w. a. i. t. e. d._

* * *

"Annabeth…"

Annabeth shot up. She had been sleeping in the hard wooden chairs by the beds in the infirmary. _Chiron should really get new chairs in here…_ She thought. Then she realized what had pulled her out of her sleep. "Percy!" She shrieked.

"Whaaa…" Percy groaned then turned over. "Anna… What hit me?"

"Shhh, Percy, don't waste your energy. You need to conserve your energy. You got hit pretty hard by the monsters."

He sat up anyway. A mirror was sitting up in front of Percy's bed, why though, Annabeth had no idea.

The reflection in the mirror was unrecognizable by those that didn't already know who he was. There were three scratches across his face, marring the sea-green eyes with red, red, lines. His chest was wrapped up in extremely tight bandages. His sword arm was broken in seven places, and his right leg was broken in eleven places. Two of his toes and his left thumb were also broken, and he had various burns all along his back.

"It was the monsters," Annabeth whispered to Percy. "They had to get their last hurrah in before they were all destroyed. A couple of them spit fire and they roasted your back, others, well, they just pummeled you while you pummeled them."

"It feels like I was trampled by a Lastrygonian soccer team in cleats."

"How do you… Never mind. Anyway, you're safe now, and I'm so glad that you're okay!" She threw her arms around Percy until he squeaked in protest.

"Urn!"

"Oh, Percy! I'm so sorry! Did I hurt you? Medic! Can I get a medic over here?"

The scrambling of feet was lost to Percy as the scenery started blurring out and the noises all blended. The last image his mind was able to process was that of Annabeth's worried face being pushed out of the way.

* * *

_Strange sounds __e__ntered his mind._

_Words, another language, permeated his brain._

"_Seaweed brain," he thought he heard once._

_The __soft__ tone,_

_The lo __ing words spoken,_

_Everything was kind,_

_So why was there soooo much_

_P-A-I-N?_

* * *

When he woke up the next time, the dull ache was gone. Annabeth was spoon-feeding him pudding, just like the first time he was in the infirmary.

He tried to lift his hand to touch hers, but he didn't have the strength, even with the ambrosia pudding he was being fed.

After a couple seconds of trying to fight the darkness, he drifted.

* * *

**MANY WEEKS HAVE PASSED**

* * *

It's the first time since the whole 'Doors of Death' ordeal that Percy picks up Riptide and goes to the arena. The Apollo campers warned him that he wasn't quite healed, but one look at his 'wolf stare,' as he had subconsciously dubbed it, and they let him out of the infirmary, his prison for the last few weeks.

People gathered to watch as he fought the Ares campers, particularly Clarisse, as they were the only ones who wouldn't treat him like glass.

_Thwap! _"Come on Kelp Head, is that all you got?"

_Whap! _"You kidding? I'm just getting started!"

_Thwack! Wack! Thunk! Thud!_

"Ouch!" The audience hissed as Clarisse hit Percy in the head with the butt of her sword. He wasn't wearing a helmet, so he crumpled like a mid-evil princess swooning from the dragon kidnapping her.

The arena went silent.

Clarisse bent over Percy, worried, trying to see if he was all right. He looked knocked out, until he lunged at Clarisse and pinned her to the ground with his sword at her throat, and her spear pointing at her head.

"Yield?" He smirked good-naturedly.

"Fine, fine, I yield." He helped her up and passed Maimer back to her waiting hand. "Best two out of three?"

"Do you even have to ask?"

They whirled off in blocks, uppercuts, swipes, and slashes, trying to weaken the other.

After a good twelve more minutes of the spar, Percy froze. His eyes were staring straight at Clarisse, but they seemed focused on an object thousands of miles away. Percy's grip slackened, and Riptide fell from his grip with a clang.

* * *

_They called it "The Thousand Yard Stare."_

_It was a phrase to describe the_

_U_

_.n_

_..f_

_...o_

_...c_

_...u_

_...s_

..._e_

_...d,_

_l__imp_

_gaze of a battle-weary soldier_

* * *

No one wants to be near him anymore. Only the Ares, Apollo, and the Hermes cabins treat him the same as they used to. Thalia and Nico were the only others, besides Annabeth who still treated him the same. The rest of the camp, especially the Aphrodite cabin, treated him as if he was broken.

No one wanted to hear the stories of the accomplishments from the war anymore, the only story that was asked about was the story of Percy Jackson, the story of the breaking of a hero.

* * *

_Every time it happened,_

_And oh, did it happen,_

_A.l.l._

_The time._

* * *

One day, Percy wouldn't leave his cabin. It was understandable, he had had a major breakdown the day prior, and the "Thousand Yard Stare" was a prominent expression on his face. Annabeth had started to break down as well.

She had been talking with Chiron about the ideas she had had for the new cabins that were being added for the campers that hadn't been claimed yet. The Hermes cabin deemed not needing to have to take in the extra campers. The diagram she had been drawing was complicated when she drew a line straight through the roof. Her eyes had become unfocused and dull. She dropped the pen and laid her hand down on the table.

Chiron took one look at her and realized what was going on. He called the nearest Apollo camper over and got them to call another few siblings to carry her off to the infirmary. Percy was informed and he just wilted. "It's happening to her too, isn't it?" Then he went to the infirmary and sat by her bedside until she snapped out of it.

Percy didn't leave the cabin all day. When Nico came into his cabin to check on him, he found Percy lying on his bed crying. "I can't feel my back. I can't move. What's happening to me?"

"Chiron! Annabeth! Someone! Come on!" Nico yelled as he sat Percy up, supporting him completely. Muttering to himself, Nico cursed. "Where are they?"

Finally, Chiron made it into Cabin 3 with an entourage made out of the whole of camp. Annabeth pushed to the front and helped pull Percy onto a stretcher.

"Out of the way! Get out of the way! We need to get him immediate attention! Now!"

* * *

_He couldn't move for_

_8_

_Days._

_On the_

_Ninth day, Annabeth cracked_

_And couldn't get up either._

_They_

_L a i d_

_Her on the bed beside Percy, as it was the best thing they could do to comfort the young,_

_D.O.O.M.E.D._

_Couple._

* * *

"They should have gotten married. Seventeen is too young to die. Percabeth was the best couple ever." Aphrodite cried on Hephaestus's shoulder. "Why? Why did they have to go through Tartarus?"

The Olympians wept for several weeks after the news was spread.

It was a tragedy of the highest degree. Worse than Romeo and Juliet, who at least had had the choice of life or death, while Percy and Annabeth were on the inevitable path to death.

* * *

_The end was_

_ SECONDS_

_Away._

* * *

"Ann- Anna- Annabeth," Percy's cracked lips barely could form the sounds. "I, It's time, I'm dying,"

"Percy, Percy, don't talk about things like that… We're going to be okay."

"No, Annabeth, I'm hours away from death. I- I know it."

"Percy…"

"It's, it's over, Annabeth… I'm gone…" His eyes slowly shut as he spoke, the words drifting off into nothingness, and Annabeth knew he was gone.

* * *

_She cried_

_t__e__a__r__s_

_until she had no more tears to cry._

* * *

Malcolm was sitting at her bedside, holding her pale, weak hand in his strong, large one.

"It's time for me to go, don't try to stop me, it's time for me to move on, and finally be with Percy forever."

* * *

_Those words were the _

_L-A-S-T_

_Words spoken by the Golden Duo. Never again would people hear the laughter or the cries of the two greatest people to ever live. No one would again hear the soft, low tones of Percy's voice, or the high, sharp notes of Annabeth's._

_They lasted for several weeks after the events of Tartarus, but…_

_Eventually,_

_Their lives were…_

tandem finita.

* * *

**AN: I know that many of you were expecting, hoping, dreaming, of a new chapter of "Letters to the Order" but my muse is not with Harry Potter right now. I am dying inside because of the latest cliffhanger by Rick Riordan. He irks me. It has been over a year since I wrote and published a story on this website, but I have been active almost every single day. Scoping out stories for my fandom's and hoping that I can find an author that is good enough to spark my muse again. I found this story, I can't remember that name or author, but it's about Percy and Annabeth and how they started as Andromeda and Perseus and they were doomed never to get to rest in Elysium, but always be reborn in a never ending cycle, in some ways meeting, in others, never hearing the others name. I was inspired, so, whoever that author is, whatever the name of that story is, I will remember it for the rest of my life as the story that brought me back into the author-dom of Fan Fiction even if only for today. I know that many of you are going to just skip this AN for the story, but to those of you who are actually reading this, thanks.  
PS: Do you think it is right for people to take polls and make bets on when you and your crush who you just so happen to be dating are going to break up? Me either. Just wanted to point that out. Ugh. My school is terrible. I cannot wait until I am out of there and in the next school I have to go to. Well, I guess it's on to the story. Haters gon' hate, and I am going to make S'mores out of their flames. PS, if you didn't get this oh of the summary, there are major Mark if Athena spoilers, and this is a major AU because I wouldn't want what I inflict on Percy and Annabeth to happen to them EVER. Even if Rick Riordan made them evil.**

**PSS: I'm not going to be a review beggar, but if you would review, I'd like that very much.**


End file.
